


Switched Up

by Layniebugs



Category: Original Work
Genre: Comedy, F/F, F/M, Genderbending, High School, LGBTQ Character, LGBTQ Character of Color, LGBTQ Themes, M/M, Original Character(s), Original Universe, Other, Romance, Slice of Life, Sports, genderbender
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-19
Updated: 2021-02-20
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:07:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 20,493
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23030701
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Layniebugs/pseuds/Layniebugs
Summary: How would you handle pretending to be the opposite sex throughout high school?Enter Sam Springfield, a girl who disguises herself as a boy so she can play on the men's basketball team at Blue Isle High after finding out that the gender-nonconforming and women's program got cut. As she lives on campus as a boy, she deals with the many hardships that come with surviving high school. Sam gathers many close friends who agree to keep her secret and help her not get caught. They all maneuver through high school and prepare for what their futures hold. Along the way, the characters will come across family issues, sports drama, dreams, and love, situations that everyone experiences as a part of growing up and becoming individuals.Come tag along to Sam's journey through high school as her world becomes totally switched up.
Kudos: 1





	1. Introduction

In the year 2064, many things throughout the world changed compared to 39 years earlier. Technology hadn't advanced as much as predicted; devices got a little thinner and smarter, but there wasn't anything like teleportation or floating cars. What did change, however, was the climate.

Nothing was more threatening to the environment than the event known as the 2025 Escalated Drought. Earth was already undergoing global warming at the time, but, in addition to that was the sudden decrease in water that lasted from 2025 to 2035. The water levels stopped rising and instead, started sinking. Rain was scarce due to chemicals from pollution and the increase in atmospheric temperature. Water was a sacred element. Because of the drought, massive areas of land became exposed from the decreasing water levels in the oceans. Eventually, some of the lands were large enough to build new communities.

According to scientists, it should have taken much longer than ten years for the massive amount of Earth's ocean water to evaporate as fast as it did. It was theorized that due to the mixture of chemicals, heat, and lack of rain, the water evaporated at a quicker pace than predicted. Even in 2064, scientists were still trying to figure out the exact cause of the phenomenon, but continued to have no luck.

By the year 2035, water evaporation slowed to a stop as a result of the improved environment. Everything was made from materials that were eco-friendly, which helped reduce pollution. Cars were completely fueled by sunlight during the day and sun-charged batteries at night; it was a way to cycle a car's energy without plugging into an outlet. Everyday items were made from recycled materials, and in time, the recycled materials were 100% recycled—creating a waste preventative system.

As the environment stabilized, the islands that were exposed around California's coast were further investigated. The government decided to construct buildings and communities on the most suitable areas. One of the islands, Blue Isle, was the largest landmass that resulted from the drought. California dedicated a huge amount of time to build a domain that was comfortable enough for people to live there. A large, prosperous town was assembled along with a flourishing high school, known as Blue Isle High.

The high school was created for students who wanted to challenge themselves while preparing for their futures. It was a three-year school that offered everything a four-year high school did. Instead of being classified as freshmen, sophomore, junior, and senior, Blue Isle High categorized their students by 1st year, 2nd year, and 3rd year.

Blue Isle High did not have a freshmen year. The students who committed to the school were required to take a series of tests throughout what was supposed to be their first year in high school. There were four tests: one in the fall, winter, spring, and summer. If any of the four tests were failed, the student wouldn't be allowed to attend Blue Isle High. The reason the students had to take these advanced tests was to make sure they were keeping up with their studies, not procrastinating, and to prove they were ready to enter the school. In addition to the tests, the students applying to the school had to undergo a series of interviews. This was to make sure the students had good personalities and an open mind. One of the goals of the school was to create a safe, accepting environment for the diverse group students they wanted to bring in. Whether it be race, religion, sexuality, identity, etc, everyone was to be accepted and they would not tolerate admitting students who did not respect this.

Blue Isle High was similar to a boarding school. Students lived in the dorms on campus until classes ended in the summer. The campus provided the students everything they needed to live comfortably on the high school grounds. They had a top-rated cafeteria with a large selection of meals. If students got sick or injured, they could go to the hospital in town.

For athletics, there were 7 different sized fields for various sports (soccer, rugby, field hockey, ultimate frisbee, etc). The school had a large, spacious track for track and field, a baseball field, and a softball field. Multiple tennis and badminton courts sat out there as well. A large gym was used for volleyball and basketball and was stationed next to the locker rooms. There was a pool for the water sports that were often used for cross-training by the other sports teams. Lastly, an indoor weight facility resided in a big room that connected to the locker room hallway. It was used for strength training and also employed a personal trainer to help with injury rehabilitation.

Since the school was on an island about two hours away from California, the students had to adapt to being on their own. They were expected to learn how to become individuals by getting used to not having their parents around to guide them. The goal of the school was to help the students figure out what they aspired to do. It was a place meant to influence them to take a journey and follow their dreams.


	2. Are you serious?

It was a peaceful morning as the sun hung high in the cloudless sky. The smell of saltwater tickled the noses of the people aboard the boat heading towards Blue Isle. A girl was standing at the railing of the boat staring out at the sea with her clear, confident green eyes. She was wearing a maroon, collared tank top buttoned up all the way and tucked into a pair of whitewashed jean shorts with cream-colored Oxfords on her feet. A quick wisp of air flung some of her long, dirty blonde waves into her face. She grabbed it, tucked it behind her ear, and grinned to herself; she could barely contain her excitement knowing she was finally going to be a student at Blue Isle High.

The girl turned around and leaned against the railing. She took in a deep breath through her nose while closing her eyes, enjoying the salty smell, and let out a big sigh. Her shining eyes popped open to observe the others on the boat.

As she studied them, two boys caught her eye. One had loose black hair and the other had wild reddish-brown hair. The boys looked like they were around her age and since they had suitcases, she made the assumption that they were also on their way to Blue Isle High. In her desperation to put a name to their faces, she gave them nicknames: Coal and Redwood. Coal was leaning against the railing while Redwood was hunched over it facing the ocean. She watched as they burst into laughter about something, making her want to join in on their fun. 

She grabbed her luggage and walked over to them. Coal glanced over at her as she came closer, causing Redwood to follow his friend's gaze to see what he was looking at. When the girl was in front of them, she plopped her bags down onto the wooden floor.

"Are you guys heading to Blue Isle High?" she asked.

"Yessiree! You must be too with all that luggage," replied Redwood.

"Yup! My name is Sam Springfield by the way," she beamed while offering a hand out to him.

He lifted himself off the railing and shook her hand.

"Nice to meet you, Sam. My name is Oliver Swanson."

Sam's mind churned while an imaginary pencil erased "Redwood" and replaced it with "Oliver Swanson."

Coal walked up to Sam next and shook her hand.

"I'm Jack Nordam."

Erase. Scribble. Sam now had their names etched into her brain. She let go of Jack's hand and smiled back at them. Now that she was getting a closer look, she couldn't help but notice how attractive they both were. 

The gray color in Jack’s irises shined like silver against the sunlight. The slanted shape of his eyes paired with his low set eyebrows gave his gaze a naturally seductive tint. At rest, his lips sat in a normal shape, but when he smiled, the corners turned up a bit, almost as if he had something mischievous planned. Jet black hair hung gently on his forehead and on top of his ears, a soft wave enveloping the shape. Jack wore a short sleeve white button-up with a pattern of tiny paw prints spaced evenly all around the cloth. Slim Basswood Brown Ultimate Shorts hung a little bit above his knees and heathered gray slip-on shoes finished off his outfit.

Oliver had playful bright blue eyes that were full of excitement. They seemed as if they would glow even without the sun shining directly in his face. Lips plumped a little more than an average person stretched into a contagious smile. The shallow crater on his left cheek turned into a deep dimple when his lips drew back. It danced around as he spoke, not being able to keep still just like the person it was attached to. Reddish-brown hair swirled around on his head like a tornado had hit. They weren’t so much ringlets as they were gravity-defying swoops. Oliver wore a white T-shirt that had the simple design of two stripes, one red and one teal, horizontally placed across the chest. Two muscular quads peeked out from a pair of teal chubbies and worn, white NMD_R1 Adidas shoes supported his feet.

Oliver stared at Sam for a while as she spoke to Jack.

"Y'know, you're pretty tall for a girl," blurted out Oliver.

Jack gave him a look with wide eyes as if to say, “Dude, what the heck?!” while Sam let out a laid back laugh.

"Yeah, I get that a lot," she replied.

"How tall are you?" 

"Five eleven right now. I really want to grow taller though."

"You don't usually hear those words from a girl's mouth," added Jack.

"Well, I play basketball, so growing taller will only help me along the way."

"She’s taller than you, dude," teased Oliver while elbowing Jack’s arm.

"Sorry I’m _soooooo_ short" sassed Jack, raising his hands up sarcastically.

Oliver laughed and threw a few more jabs his way, pushing Jack a little too far. Before Oliver could react, Jack stomped down on his semi-white shoe, adding onto the dirt that was starting to build up on it. Oliver let out a devastated squeal, causing Jack to keel over the boat’s railing in laughter. 

Sam smiled while she observed their interactions. For some reason, it made her happy watching the boys converse and tease each other. They seemed so close and it made her want to be a part of their friendship.

"Do you guys play any sports?" asked Sam, interrupting the quarrel that was about to start.

"Yeah, we both do track. I do high jump, the 200 and 400," said Oliver.

“And I do long jump, triple jump, and the 800,” said Jack. 

"Oh, cool! I gotta go see you two in a meet one day."

"You totally should!" exclaimed Oliver with a dimple activating smile.

While the boat ride continued, Sam, Jack, and Oliver talked non-stop. They chatted about a number of different things, but the bulk of the conversation was about what happened during their middle school years. Sam enjoyed listening to Jack and Oliver get worked up over the stories they told. She learned that they had known each other their whole lives because they grew up as next-door neighbors. All three of them got to know each other within that short amount of time. The boys became friends with Sam faster than they imagined.

As the trio spent time chattering, they began approaching Blue Isle. They piled over the railing to look out to the beautiful island that was slowly sneaking into view. It stretched out far and was full of different shades of green from all the plants. Aesthetically pleasing buildings popped up all around the surface, decorating the canvas with all sorts of colors and unique shapes. 

When the boat docked, Sam, Jack, and Oliver grabbed their luggage and headed towards the exit. Jack and Oliver hopped off first and waited for Sam to get off last. She excitedly jumped from the boat's stairs, forgetting about how heavy her luggage was as it yanked her arm back, causing her to stumble forward into the two boys. They barely managed to catch her with the additional weight of her luggage as it sailed forward with her, and all three of them fell back onto the docks. The trio burst into laughter while the people around them tried to bury their chuckles in their hands.

Once they managed to pull themselves together, they stood up and gathered their bags, finally heading over to the bus that would take them to the high school. Sam, Jack, and Oliver piled into one of the booths of the bus, squeezing themselves in as tight as they could with all their luggage. As the bus began moving through town, the three of them were in awe with how colorful and modern the town looked. They arranged their faces to fit the length of the window and pointed to all the interesting sites they saw, briefly discussing them before some other neat thing cut their attention short.

The 1st-years were required to arrive at Blue Isle High for an orientation three days earlier than the 2nd and 3rd-years. During those three days, the students were given a chance to get to know their school better. There were a few informational presentations they would have to sit through in order to learn the school rules, but there would also be a lot of chances for the students to do some exploring on their own.

After another 20 minutes, the bus reached Blue Isle High. The students who had been drowning in their luggage emptied out the two exit doors, and the first thing they noticed was the gigantic buildings that were looming in front of them. When Sam, Jack, and Oliver managed to get out, they stared up at the school in awe. The layout was enormous. 

The white painted metal fence that surrounded the school seemed to go on for miles. From where they were standing, they could see two huge buildings in front of them. The one directly in front of them was known as the Main Building. This was where the students took classes, studied, and ate. There were more buildings connected to the Main Building that couldn't be seen from the front, which were incorporated with the athletics. Those included the gym, the locker rooms, the personal training center, the weight room, and the pool. Even farther beyond those buildings were all the other fields and courts that were incorporated with the large amount of sports that happened at the school. The other large building on the right side of campus was the dormitories that the students lived in while attending Blue Isle High. There was also a beautiful section filled with trees, plants, and flowers on the left side of campus known as the Forest; it was meant to be a scenic retreat for the students.

Sam, Jack, and Oliver followed the flock of 1st-years flowing into the school. They walked into the Main Building and stood in line for luggage check-in so they wouldn't have to carry it while walking around. The first day at orientation was meant for the students to observe the school, see what clubs and sports there were at the event known as The Rush, and make any last-minute roommate changes for the dorms.

Once they checked in their luggage, the trio stood off to the side to decide what to do next.

“You guys want to check out The Rush first?” asked Sam.

“I’m down. We need to get the tryout sheets for track. And you need yours for basketball I’m assuming,” said Oliver.

“I need to get an application for Student Council too,” added Jack.

“Damn, Jack. Track and Student Council? You’re gonna be a busy boy,” said Sam.

“That’s what I told him, but he won’t listen to me,” said Oliver, giving Jack an innocent glare.

“Hey, it looks good on college applications. And I like to keep myself busy,” said Jack with a light shrug.

The three of them made their way to the cafeteria where The Rush was being held. They approached an enormous room that was surrounded by glass walls. Sam pushed open one of the large glass doors that led into the cafeteria to reveal a plethora of colorful tables where the club booths were stationed on the left side. Beyond the club tables on the rest of the first floor and the second floor were countless seats and tables for students to sit at while eating. The green tables were long and had the navy blue benches attached underneath. 

To their right, there was a long counter that took the shape of a squiggly line and stretched all the way to the other side of the wall. Behind the counter were various stations that each made different kinds of food. There were even stations that were conscious of students with dietary restrictions such as being gluten-free, vegan, vegetarian, etc. There was also a section for pre-packaged food for the students who needed something quick and couldn’t sit down to eat. 

Sam, Jack, and Oliver began their journey through the rows and ended up finding the track and field's booth right away. Jack and Oliver grabbed applications and chatted with the upperclassmen running the booth for a moment before returning to Sam. 

“They seem cool!” said Sam.

“They are! I think we will get along with them pretty well,” said Oliver with a smile, “Did you see that 3rd-year’s legs? I hope I can get mine to be that strong by my third year. Like, damn!”

Sam chuckled at Oliver’s enthusiasm and continued glancing around for the women’s basketball table. 

“Oh, hold on guys. I see the Student Council table,” said Jack, “I’ll be right back.”

Sam and Oliver waited patiently while Jack approached their table. He shook hands with all the upperclassmen behind the table and talked to them for a bit. The two members running the booth really looked the part based on their clean, professional appearance, especially the girl with dark hair and bronze skin who stood in the middle with her arms crossed.

“Dude, see that girl?” asked Sam, pointing towards where Jack was.

“Yeah, the one in the middle? What about her?” asked Oliver.

“Look how intimidating she looks! Jack’s gonna get his ass kicked. Plus, she’s hot too.”

Oliver turned to Sam with an eyebrow raised.

“What! I can appreciate an attractive woman,” said Sam innocently.

“Oh god. Her true form surfaces,” joked Oliver.

While the two of them mingled for a bit longer, Jack eventually returned. Now all they had to do was find the women’s basketball team for Sam.

Sam, Jack, and Oliver walked up and down the booths, searching for what Sam was looking for. Time passed and before they knew it, there was only one more row to walk down. Sam felt herself starting to panic. 

_Where is it?!_

Jack and Oliver could tell that she was on edge from the frantic way she was looking back and forth between the booths. They exchanged a worried glance and telepathically hoped that she would be able to find it. 

But then, they reached the end.

She turned to the boys with a look of horror.

"It's... not here. Why… Why isn't it here?" she questioned, her voice shaking.

"Sam, maybe we just skipped over it. We can go walk around again if you want?" comforted Jack in a gentle tone.

"Jack, I looked so closely at each and every booth. It's not here."

While Sam was facing them, the trio overheard a conversation behind her:

"Is that really what happened?"

"Yes, I'm sorry. They cut the women and gender nonconforming basketball programs last minute before all the 1st-years were coming in. I don't even know the reason myself yet, but I'm so sorry you had to find out like this. You will have to join another sport instead."

Sam felt her stomach plummet. Jack and Oliver watched her with concerned eyes as she stared lifelessly at the ground. She looked up at them on the brink of tears and opened her mouth to speak, but shut it when something behind the boys caught her eye, causing a lightbulb to go off in her head.

“Sam, it’s okay. We’ll figure this ou—“ 

Before Oliver could finish his sentence, Sam's instincts took over and she was gone. She sprinted as fast as she could and passed by one of the booths in a blur. As she rushed by, she swiped an application off the table and continued running. Sam ran so fast that the upperclassmen at the booth didn't see who she was; they were too busy trying to hold down the papers that she flipped up from her wind gust. She continued running until she found a place on the side of the school where she could hide and stay out of sight. She flopped down on the ground and leaned back against the wall, clutching the paper in her hand.

As Sam caught her breath, Jack and Oliver popped around the corner a few seconds later.

"Have you ever considered ditching basketball for track?" said Oliver with a laugh.

Sam let out a winded chuckle.

"What did you do anyway? Why did you take off like that?" asked Jack.

Sam held up the paper to show them. They both leaned down a little to read what it said at the top:

**Men's Basketball Team Application Form**

Jack and Oliver looked up from the paper to see Sam smirking at them. The boy's eyes widened while exchanging a look of disbelief. They turned back to Sam and said at the same time, "Are you serious?"

To be continued…


	3. Let's do this!

"Sam! You can't join the guys team. You're a  _ girl _ !" exclaimed Oliver.

"Yeah, Sam. There are really strict rules for school sports teams nowadays. The associations don't tolerate mixing genders on sports teams. If you get caught ‘pretending’ to be a boy, they will kick you off the team. You won't be able to play at Blue Isle High again and it could even roll over into college depending on how harsh the punishment is. It will be on your record forever,” added Jack.

“Are they really that strict?” she asked.

“Well, there are men’s, women’s, and gender non-conforming teams for all the sports. But if someone ‘pretends’ to be a different gender instead of ‘identifying’ as that specific gender, it seems like cheating. People may try to sneak strong athletes onto the team by having them disguise themselves as something they are not. Say, a State-level 200M track runner on the men’s team disguises himself as a female just to run anchor on the women’s team 4 x 100M relay. That would be a really unfair thing to do. And another issue is that people could sneak onto a team  so they were on the same one as friends of a different gender . Stuff like that has happened in the past, so they are very strict on that now,” informed Jack.

“How and why do you know so much about this?” asked Oliver. He knew his best friend was extremely smart, but it never ceased to amaze him how much information he could remember.

“I have to know everything about this school to get into the Student Council,” replied Jack with a shrug before turning his attention back to Sam, “So, Sam. What are you going to do? You still willing to do something with such intense consequences?”

She took in a deep breath and stared at them with strong, unwavering eyes.

"It’s a risk I'm willing to take."

The boys gulped, feeling intimidated by how fierce her eyes were, like two peridot gems that were as confident as their color being green.

After a few more seconds of silence, Jack was the first to give in. 

"Sam--” he started, letting out a long defeated sigh before continuing, “why do you want to do this so badly? You have to have a reason for being this stubborn," he said.

"I do."

"Can you tell us why?"

"Yeah, I want you guys to know everything. Can you sit down though? Looking up is hurting my neck."

"Sure," said Jack while he crouched to the ground and sat down in front of Sam. He stared at her for a little bit until a soft chuckle escaped his throat.

“You’re crazy,” he added.

Sam held up her hands and shrugged while her lips curled downward as if to say “Sorry, not sorry.” The two of them shared a tiny snicker before realizing their “floor meeting” was one person short. They looked up at Oliver to find him standing with his arms folded across his chest.

"I'm still against this you know," he said with a disapproving look.

"Oliver, at least hear her out," pleaded Jack.

Oliver looked down at them, unconvinced, for a few more seconds, but then unfolded his arms and walked over to where Sam was. He sat next to her and leaned up against the wall.

“I'm listening," he said with a pout.

Sam smiled and began her explanation:

"Well, ever since I was young, Blue Isle High has been my dream school because my mom went here. She's the reason I started playing basketball in the first place. And she played on the women's basketball team so I wanted to follow in her footsteps. But... she passed away when I was 10 years-old. I was devastated when she died, but it made me realize... that getting into Blue Isle High was something I absolutely had to accomplish.

"My family isn't rich. In fact, we barely have enough money to keep us going. We don't have nearly enough money to cover the expenses for this school. Even though I knew that, I had to go here. I studied my ass off for years and I'm finally here on an academic scholarship that helps pay for everything I need. I can't afford to throw away all of my hard work. So please, Oliver. You have to understand. Playing on the men's team may be different and extremely risky, but I'll still get the chance to be on a basketball team at Blue Isle High. I  _ have _ to do this."

Oliver watched her eyes sparkle with optimism as she waited for his response. He sighed and ran a hand through his thick forest of hair, unable to fight back against her stubbornness and strong resolve.

"Okay. You can do it if you really want to."

A huge smile grew on Sam's face.

"Yes—"

"But!" announced Oliver cutting her off, "You have to let us help you."

Sam tilted her head, confused. Jack leaned forward a little bit to join the conversation.

"Did you think we were going to let you go through with this alone?" he said.

"It makes me really happy that you guys want to help, but I don’t even know how you can?" said Sam.

Oliver snapped his fingers.

"You can room with us!” he blurted out, “That way you won't have some random guy as your roommate. Being with us would make it a lot easier for you to hide your secret too."

"That's true! But, is there a way I could still room with you two though?"

"Yeah, you should be able to. Oliver and I already recommended each other during the 'roommate selection period' back at the beginning of summer. So it's pretty much guaranteed we will be together. Do you have a room with anyone yet?" theorized Jack.

"No. I don't know anyone here, so I was just gonna let myself get put with a random person when I went to check into the dorms."

"Oh, perfect. And since you haven’t created an online profile for the rooming system yet, you can easily lie that your gender is male. Honestly, someone probably  _ could _ pretend to be the opposite sex and get away with it, but I don't think anyone is as ridiculous and stubborn as you are,” Sam let out a short, apologetic laugh and Jack continued, "But it's a good thing you aren't scheduled to be rooming in the girl's dorms. That probably would've made this impossible to pull off."

"So... this could actually work?" said Sam.

Jack nodded his head.

"Oliver and I will have to recommend you to be in our room and that should get you in."

Sam's eyes glistened with excitement while a smile grew on her face.

"Let's do this!" she exclaimed, popping up from her seat like a loaded spring that had been released.

"Okay, okay,” chuckled Jack, “We gotta get you into a different outfit first before anyone else sees you."

"Ha, this is gonna be so fun!" announced Oliver, bouncing up from where he was sitting. He grabbed Sam’s hands and started jumping around sporadically. She caught on immediately and reciprocated his random dance.

"You were against it a few minutes ago," said Jack with a smirk.

Oliver stopped hopping, causing Sam’s momentum to make her lose her footing. He reached out and hooked Sam’s arm with his wrist so she wouldn’t fall into a battle with gravity, and pulled her upright. The two shared a laugh once she managed to collect herself and then he turned to Jack with a playful smirk.

“I was... but I feel confident that we can pull this off now."

Sam let out a small giggle, which made the boys glance over at her. She looked at them with a big, hopeful smile.

"Jack, Oliver, thank you. This means so much to me. You really have no idea."

Oliver closed the gap between them and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Of course Sam. You're our friend now, so we want to help you."

It made Sam happy to hear him say that. Happy and relieved. Even though they had just met, she felt like she had known Jack and Oliver for much longer.

"Sam I think you would fit my clothes pretty well since it seems like I’m only an inch taller than you,” said Oliver measuring the height of their heads with his hand, “I'm going to go get my stuff from check in so we can get you in some different clothes.”

Sam and Jack agreed and Oliver took off only to return a minute later with one of his bags.

"Okay, let's go find a bathroom really fast. We gotta make sure there aren't people around so Sam can sneak into the boys side,” he said.

Sam, Jack, and Oliver began walking around the outside of the school, searching for a bathroom.

"Wait. There's one," announced Jack while pointing to the left.

Sam and Oliver looked to where his finger was aimed and they both sighed in relief. The trio jogged to the bathrooms and stopped outside the doors. Jack kept watch while Oliver dug through his suitcase to find a convincing outfit for Sam. He pulled out a black T-shirt, slim salmon colored shorts, and a baseball hat.

"Try this on. Do you think you can get your hair into that hat?"

"Yeah. I'll figure something out. But what about my shoes?"

"It'll be fine. They can pass as men's shoes."

Sam walked into the boys bathroom, checking under the stalls to make sure she was truly alone. She set Oliver’s clothes on the counter and began changing. Once her outfit was off, she turned the clothing into a ball and started putting on Oliver's outfit. As she pulled the shirt over her head, she got a whiff of Oliver’s ingrained scent. It was gentle and soft like a fuzzy blanket on a winter day, but ironically reminded her of the soothing smell that filled her house when summer began to hint it was near.

Sam popped her head through the neck hole and slipped her arms into the sleeves. She pinched the fabric and brought it up to her nose for one more inhale.

_ His clothes smell good _ , she thought.

Realizing what had gone through her mind, she spastically ripped her hands away from his shirt, the fabric shooting back against her skin from the elasticity being violently released. 

"Ahhh, what am I thinking?!" she hissed silently to herself.

While shaking her head back and forth to get rid of her self-proclaimed “creepy” thought, Sam pulled on Oliver’s shorts and buttoned them up. They were a little loose, so she slipped the belt off her shorts and threaded it through Olivers, buckling it snug against her hips. 

Then she was faced with the final boss: the baseball hat. She twisted her hair loosely and then cupped it into the hat. Once all of her long hair was molded to look more like a short cut, she played with the tips popping out around her forehead to make it look a little more convincing. 

After three minutes of anxiously styling her hair, Sam wet a few paper towels and wiped off her makeup.

_ Goodbye makeup _ , she thought, her reflection staring back at her with a pout.

She gathered her clothes and took one last check in the mirror, observing her new appearance from a couple different angles before returning to looking at herself straight on.

"Okay... Looks good."

With a heart full of determination, she headed out of the bathroom.

To be continued...


	4. We didn't get caught!

Sam walked out to see Jack and Oliver waiting on either side of the door, guarding it like two personal soldiers. They both perked up when they heard her come out. 

“How’d it go?” asked Oliver.

Sam raised her arms a bit and did a spin.

“I think pretty well. I got everything on. Also, Oliver, can I hide my clothes in your bag until we get into our room...  _ hopefully _ ?" asked Sam.

"Yeah, of course."

Oliver kneeled down while taking the clothes from her and zipped them inside his bag. When he stood back up, he studied Sam's appearance a little more intently.

"Not bad. Not bad. I think you can actually pull off being a boy pretty well. You did a good job of making your chest look flat too."

Sam looked at him with an offended expression and covered her chest with her arms.

"I didn't do anything..."

Jack immediately let out a "Pfft--" and quickly covered his mouth with his hand. He turned his head to the side to try to hide his laughter, but his trembling shoulders gave it away.

Once Oliver’s brain processed what he had said, he flailed around in a desperate attempt to take it back.

"Sam! Oh my god-- Ah, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to make it sound like that!"

Sam dropped her arms and brushed off his comment with a chuckle.

"It's fine, seriously. I'm aware that I'm flat, but I don't really mind because it will help me disguise myself better, I guess."

She paused for a few seconds.

"B-Besides, big boobs would just get in the way of playing basketball," she said in an attempt to build her pride back up.

Jack summoned the willpower to control the giggles still lingering in the back of his throat before he was able to speak.

"With that outfit, you should be able to pull this off for now. But Sam, you're going to have to do something about your long hair in the future,” he warned.

"I know. Once we figure out this room situation I'll do something about it."

"Okay, let's get our luggage first and head over to the dorms.”

“Alright!" agreed Sam.

"Let's go!" cheered Oliver.

The trio headed over to the luggage check-in to get their remaining suitcases. Sam waited in a different line than before where there was a new person working in case the previous person recognized her. Once she got her bags, she scurried back to Jack and Oliver. They sighed in relief from knowing that their plan was “so far so good.”

Sam, Jack, and Oliver headed to the dormitories next. They noticed that there were three long lines heading out the doors; one for boys, one for girls, and one for students who felt they did not fall into either sex.

"Ugh, I hate waiting in lines," groaned Oliver.

"Because you have too much energy. You're like... a rabbit on drugs," said Jack.

"No I'm not!"

Sam smiled while watching them bicker back and forth. The trio walked over to the boy's line and chatted while they waited for their turn, but before they knew it, they reached the front.

"Finally!" whined Oliver.

"Dude, you're so impatient. That only took like, twelve minutes," said Jack.

Sam laughed when Oliver turned his face away with a "Hmph!"

"Shit! Sam!" exclaimed Jack, causing Sam and Oliver to jump.

"What?!” she replied, slightly panicked.

He leaned down and motioned for Sam and Oliver to come in closer.

"Your first name Samantha, huh?" whispered Jack.

"Oh, nah. My parents literally named me Sam. No '-antha' attached to it," she whispered back.

Jack sighed in relief.

"Oh thank god. We would have been screwed if your real name was Samantha. We could lie about it now but it may have come back to bite us in the ass later. You should be thankful your parents gave you that name given our situation."

Sam put her hands together like she was praying.

"Thank you, Victor and Juliet, for giving me a gender fluid name," she said, making Jack and Oliver chuckle.

"You're also lucky that your voice can pass as a guy’s. It’s a little bit feminine, but if you look the part, you will pass. If you had some high pitched girl voice, well, that would've been really bad. Like if you had our other childhood friend Honey’s voice. Ooo boy, we would have been screwed. Her’s is pretty far up there," added Oliver.

"Never thought that these qualities would actually be useful in a situation like this,” said Sam.

“Next!” 

The loud announcement grabbed their attention and they were finally able to approach the dormitory check-in counter. 

"What can I help you guys with?" asked the man behind the counter.

All three of them felt a wave of relief run through their bodies when the man showed no suspicion towards them.

Jack took the initiative and leaned forward towards the window.

"We would like to make a roommate request, please."

The man typed something into his computer.

"Sure thing. What's your name?"

"Jack Nordam. N-O-R-D-A-M."

The next few seconds were filled with tapping noises from the man's keyboard as he looked up Jack's name and pulled up the request form.

"So, it looks like you and Oliver Swanson are rooming together already. Do you want to change roommates or add another?" he said without looking up from the screen.

"Add another, please."

The man clicked the mouse a few times and then looked up at Jack.

"Alright, and who will that person be?"

Oliver pushed against Sam's back to give her the cue to step forward and talk. Sam cleared her throat and put on a friendly smile.

"Me, Sam Springfield. ‘Spring’ and then ‘field.’"

After typing in her name, the man looked up at Sam.

“Okay, and it looks like you don’t have an account yet?”

“Yeah, so I initially was planning on just doing the random roommate selection and making an account here today, but I met Jack and Oliver and we all agreed it would be cool to room together if it was possible.”

“Okay, no problem at all. If you could just…” he tapped his mouse a few times before continuing, “fill out this account form on the screen right there so we can get you into the system and then we can go about adding you into their room.”

“Alright, thank you!”

Sam tapped her information into the touch screen, double-checking to make sure she selected her gender as male, and then signed the document once she got to the bottom.

“Okay… I think I got it all,” she said.

“Yup, you did! Alright, and you must be Oliver?"

"Yeah, I am," he replied.

"Do you also request Sam Springfield as a roommate?"

"Yes, I do," he said while giving her a little side smile.

More typing.

"Alright, since you boys both agreed to request Sam as a roommate, sign these forms really quick to confirm that you do.” 

Jack and Oliver took turns signing the touch screen below the counter.

“Okay guys. You will now have three people in your room; you can't add any more roommates. Since the room was furnished for two people, you will have to go to the storage room down the hall there and talk to the man in charge of extra furniture. He can help Sam get what he needs.

"Now, I'll give you boys some quick information about the dorms before you settle in: So the dorms here have six floors, two floors per class year. They are separated into three sections for boys, girls, and students who feel they don’t fall into either sex. The floors rotate with the graduating 3rd-year class. When a 3rd-year class graduates, the 1st-years move into their floors. This year, you 1st-years are on floors three and four. Your room is going to be 320. At 4:00 today you'll make your ID cards that have sensors on them to check you in here each night. You'll get more information about the IDs when you make them later. There will also be more information about the curfew rules during tomorrow's presentations. My name is Frank and I am one of the managers for the boy's dorms, so just know that you can come to me for assistance about the dorms anytime."

Sam, Jack, and Oliver thanked him and began walking down the hallway on the left.

“Oh my god,” whispered Sam.

“I know,” replied Oliver.

She grabbed onto Jack and Oliver’s forearms and squeezed them.

“Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!” she said a little louder. 

“I know, I know, I know!” cheered Oliver.

He jumped in front of her and grabbed her shoulders, shaking her lightly while looking into her eyes.

“We--” she started.

“Yeah--” finished Oliver.

Sam grabbed onto Oliver’s shoulders and they both danced around excitedly in celebration that their plan worked. Jack smiled at them and continued down the hallway towards the storage room.

When he got in front of the door, there was a man reading a magazine who was sitting on a chair inside the room. When he saw Jack’s feet approach, he looked up and grinned.

"Y'guys need extra furniture?" he asked, glancing out into the hallway to see Sam and Oliver still dancing around, “Well they seem excited.”

“Ha, yeah. We managed to get our friend Sam into a room with us,” said Jack

The man set his magazine down on the table next to him and stood up.

"Alrighty, so stuff for one extra person. You got it! My name is Robbie by the way and I am one of the dorm managers here like Frank. It's nice to meet you."

He offered a hand out to Jack.

“I’m Jack Nordam,” he said while taking Robbie’s hand with a firm grip.

Jack glanced over his shoulder to see the two hyperactive beings still going at it.

“Hey. You dorks. Come over here.”

Sam and Oliver both stopped and looked towards Jack and Robbie. Once they realized that an introduction was going on, they clumsily stumbled over to the storage room.

“I’m so sorry, I’m Sam Springfield,” huffed Sam, still a little winded from her frenzy with Oliver.

She offered a hand out to Robbie and he shook it with a chuckle.

“No need to be sorry. You guys are excited. I totally get it,” he said.

“And I’m Oliver Swanson,” said Oliver, the last to offer a handshake.

After Oliver and Robbie shook hands, Robbie turned around and walked deeper into the room.

"Ooookay, so you guys are gonna need a bed frame, a mattress, a desk, a desk chair, a desk light, a basket for clothes, and a dresser. You can leave your luggage here while you transfer this stuff to your room. Feel free to use the elevator if the stairs are too much."

The trio thanked Robbie while they stored their luggage in the room and then started figuring out what to grab. Jack and Oliver took the bed frame first while Sam carried the mattress. They decided to climb the stairs to the third floor and began searching for their room.

“320. There it is!” announced Sam.

She opened the door and walked in with the other two following close behind. They plopped the frame and mattress down and glanced around the room.

"We should probably rearrange the furniture to fit Sam's bed first. We can go grab the other stuff after," suggested Jack.

Sam leaned against the metal bed frame and observed the empty space around the room they could play with.

"Let's try putting mine in the right corner. Then we can put a bed under the window and against the left wall?"

Jack and Oliver glanced at the places she was pointing to.

"Yeah, that could work," said Jack.

"Let's try it," agreed Oliver.

Sam, Jack, and Oliver arranged the beds and stood back to admire their new set up. Jack crossed his arms over his chest while examining the room.

"I think this is good," he said.

Sam plopped onto her bare mattress and leaned back against the wall.

"This room is huge. I can't believe this was originally the size for  _ two _ people. We fit three with ease."

"Well, we filled all that empty space with you now," said Oliver with a grin, his dimple making it’s inevitable appearance.

Sam beamed a soft smile back before Jack chimed in, causing them to break eye contact and glance over to him.

"Let's go get the rest of Sam's stuff so we can finish this and get settled in." 

Sam and Oliver agreed and they went back down to get the remaining pieces of furniture. After around twenty minutes of rearranging, Sam, Jack, and Oliver had managed to get their room into an agreeable layout. 

They let out big sighs of relief when they finished and exchanged a round of high fives.

"We did it!" said Oliver happily.

"Yeah! Now let's go get our suitcases and make this official!" said Sam while skipping to the door.

They headed down one last time to get their luggage and thank Robbie for watching it. Once they were in the room with their luggage, Sam tossed her bags onto the floor and jumped onto her bed, the baseball hat flying off in the process, revealing shiny waves that looked like liquid caramel melting onto her fresh, white mattress.

"We didn't get caught!" she exclaimed.

“Sam! Shhhh! The door was still open!” said Oliver, his words hiccupping with giggles. It was way too hard for him to be stern with someone as bubbly as Sam.

Sam, Jack, and Oliver shared a quick laugh before making their way over to their sides of the room. Jack decided to take the bed under the window, Oliver took the bed against the left wall, and Sam took the bed tucked in the lower right corner of the room.

There was a door that led to their bathroom on the left side of Sam's desk. It had a full-length mirror on the front so they could see themselves when the door was shut. There was another door next to Oliver's dresser for a small closet. The walls were an off white with sporadic puncture marks from the students of previous years pinning things up. The floors had clean, off-white carpet that was soft on their feet.

It was finally time for Sam, Jack, and Oliver to start unpacking. They chatted and laughed, making what was supposed to be a boring activity fun and lively. 

"Sam, I know this is kind of a weird question to ask, but don't you feel nervous about rooming with two guys? Like at all?" asked Oliver suddenly.

Sam stopped putting the sheets on her bed and stood up to face him, tucking some of her hair behind her ear.

"Nah, not really. I mean, I trust you guys. I could tell you were good people from the moment we met. Besides, I'm gonna have to act like ‘a guy’ from now on, so living with you two will be good practice."

"Looks like I worried over nothing," he said with a shrug and a smile.

Finally, after their long period of unpacking, Sam, Jack, and Oliver flopped onto their freshly made beds. They still needed to go into town to buy duvets, but just having new soft sheets down was refreshing enough.

"It's more comfortable than I imagined it would be," said Sam while snuggling up against her sheets.

Oliver stretched his arms over his head while he sunk down into his bed.

"You got that right," he agreed.

Sam lifted her legs up and threw them forward, using the momentum to sit upright.

"Hey, do either of you have scissors?" she asked.

Jack glanced over at her from his bed.

"I do. Why?"

"I want to cut my hair. Better now than never."

Jack got up and rummaged through his desk drawer. He picked up the scissors and walked over to Sam.

"Are you going to do it yourself?" he asked.

"Yeah, I guess,” she said while taking the scissors, slight uncertainty lined her tone.

"Wait, Sam, let me do it for you," said Oliver as he jumped off his bed.

"Uhhh, what makes you think I can trust you with my hair?"

He grinned at her.

"Trust me."

Sam’s eyes locked onto his, her eyebrow raising in suspicion. She reluctantly held her hand out to him and he walked forward to take the scissors.

"Let's go to the bathroom. We can put down towels to catch the hair," said Oliver.

He turned and opened up the door, revealing a spacious room that was big enough to be a bedroom itself. There was a large counter around the sink with white marble ingrained with sparkly silver bits. The wide mirror that hung above it could easily fit Sam, Jack, and Oliver if they were standing there at the same time. There was a cabinet below the sink and two smaller ones on the wall opposite the mirror. At the end of the room, there was a toilet and a bath/shower. The floor was tiled in an off-white like the carpet and had a built-in heater to keep the tile from being cold.

Oliver set the scissors on the counter and opened the sink cabinet to grab the towels he had stored there while unpacking. Sam rolled her desk chair into the bathroom so she could sit while he cut her hair.

When Oliver finished putting down the towels on the floor, Sam sat down. He gathered Sam's hair in his hand, lifted it, and placed another towel around her shoulders. As he let her hair down, he began brushing through it with his fingers.

"You positive you want to do this now? You don't want a little more time with your long hair?" he asked.

Sam nodded.

"I'm fine. I need to get it over with now."

Oliver stopped finger combing Sam’s hair and reached over her to grab her wrist.

“I’m gonna swipe that from you for a bit,” he said, slipping off the hair tie on her wrist.

“Go for it,”

Oliver sectioned off her hair effortlessly, as if he were familiar with the process. He picked up the scissors from the counter, the metal clinking slightly against the marble, which filled Sam with a short burst of nerves.

"Alright. I'm gonna cut the first bit off."

Sam felt Oliver take a section of hair in his hand. She closed her eyes and winced at the gritting sound of her own hair being chopped off.

"Uh oh," said Oliver after cutting the first bit of hair.

Sam's eyes snapped open.

"What?!"

"Um... Sam..."

"Oliver, what did you do?!"

He let out a short snicker before exploding into a cackling fit. Sam whipped her body around, grabbed the collar of Oliver's shirt, and began shaking him frantically.

"You're such an ass hole! That scared the shit out of me!"

"Sam! Wait-- I'm holding scissors!" he managed to say between huffs of laughter.

Sitting at his desk, Jack listened to them quarrel and couldn't help but chuckle. 

_ Those two get along better than I imagined _ , he thought.

After a decent amount of Sam and Oliver howling at each other, they eventually calmed down.

"I'm sorry. I couldn't resist," said Oliver.

Sam crossed her arms while turning back around in the chair.

"You're such an ass."

Oliver chuckled and took another chunk of hair.

"You can trust me with this. I swear. I cut my sister's hair at home."

"Oh, you have a sister?"

"Yeah. She's in middle school."

"Ahh, how lucky. I grew up an only child, so I don't know what it's like to have siblings. I've always wanted a brother though. Younger or older, I wouldn't have cared. I just wanted one."

Sam and Oliver continued chatting about random topics while he worked on her hair. Time passed and Oliver made his way around to the front of Sam's head. He began trimming her side-bangs so they wouldn't fall into her eyes.

A few snips later, Oliver stood back and observed his work.

"Look right."

Sam turned her head right.

"Now, look left."

Sam turned her head left.

Oliver put his hands on his hips.

"Hey, I did a pretty good job. You can definitely pass now."

Oliver then stepped out of the way so she could see herself in the mirror. 

“Oh my god…” she gasped.

Oliver carefully took off the towel around Sam's shoulders so she could get up to the mirror to see herself better. She approached slowly, still in shock with how different she looked.

“I’ve never had short hair in my life,” she commented.

“Well, it looks good on you. You pull it off well,” said Oliver with a gentle smile.

“Heh, thank you,” she replied bashfully.

Sam ran her hands through her fresh, short hair and played around with her bangs for a bit. She dropped her hands and placed them on the edge of the counter while still looking in the mirror.

While the events of the day suddenly rushed back to her, she gripped onto to counter a little tighter, adrenaline running through her veins.

"Wow... This is really happening."

To be continued…


	5. Whoa, it did the thing!

Oliver grinned at her comment.

"You gettin' nervous and feel like backing out now?" he teased

Sam turned to him and scrunched her eyebrows together.

"Hell no. I'm going to make this work no matter what," she replied, her eyes full of fierce determination.

"Good, good. That's what I like to hear," said Oliver with a smile.

Sam's expression softened and she playfully nudged Oliver’s shoulder. She tip-toeing around the hair on the floor to avoid spreading it everywhere and popped out in front of Jack.

"What do you think?" she asked, modeling her new look from different angles.

"Whoa, you look so different now! It's so much shorter than before. Good job Oliver."

"Thanks!" yelled Oliver from the bathroom.

Sam went back into the bathroom and helped Oliver clean up the hair and towels. When they finished, Oliver stopped in the doorway when he realized Sam wasn’t following him out.

“You comin’?” he asked.

“Yeah, just give me a sec. I wanna take in my new hair a bit longer,” she replied, totally engrossed with the unfamiliar person staring back at her.

“Heh, okay,” chuckled Oliver as he exited the bathroom.

Sam turned her head from side to side. Her hair was about the same length as Oliver’s, just, much more in tune with how gravity worked. It laid down gently against her scalp and managed to keep the natural wave that had flowed through her long hair; even though the new cut was so different, it was reassuring to know there was still something familiar to hold onto. She stepped back a bit and ran her hand through the surprisingly thick, healthy strands of hair, taking in a few more seconds of the look before she exited the bathroom.

"Oliver, what time is it right now?" she asked, walking to her bed while twirling her bangs around her finger.

"Uh... It's 3:32."

"We have to go to the library to make our ID's at 4:00 huh?"

"Yeah.”

“Want to leave around 3:45 so we can get there on time?" asked Jack.

"Sure!" replied Sam.

“Sounds good to me,” added Oliver.

After goofing around for a little longer, it came time to leave their room and head to the library in the Main Building. When they walked in, they noticed the library was gigantic, easily fitting the entire 1st-year class inside. Rows of books were placed down a room that stretched out unbelievably far. There were collections of tables bundled up in the study section located in the middle. Within that space, there were desks with computers, some with borders for privacy. There were also tons of bean bag chairs placed sporadically around the area. 

As the students started filing into the room, most made their way to the study section’s tables while others, Sam and Oliver, zoomed over to the remaining bean bag chairs. The two both dove at a large purple bean bag cushion and shared a hearty laugh at the protracted grunt Oliver made when Sam accidentally landed on him. They wrestled for a few seconds, causing the students around them to snicker at the free show they were getting before the two of them compromised for squishing into the seat together. Jack chuckled at the two hyperactive gremlins while he sat in the chair that was right next to them.

When the clock hit 4:00, a man with dark curly hair and glasses stood up from the group of tables that the staff were sitting at. He raised a wireless microphone up to his mouth and smiled as he quickly observed the crowd of rambunctious 1st years.

"May I have your attention students!" he said in a slightly raspy, deep, mellow voice.

The library began to quiet down until only the man could be heard.

"My name is Mr. Bennett and I am a 1st-year English teacher here at Blue Isle High. Today I will be helping you create your IDs. But first and foremost, I would like to officially welcome you all to Blue Isle High!"

The room exploded into cheering and clapping from the 1st-years. Mr. Bennett smiled while waiting for them to calm down. He turned to his staff mates and mouthed, “Wow they're loud!” The adults chuckled at his reaction and looked out at the new, unique group of students that were about to embark on their high school journey.

Once the crowd finally calmed down, he brought the microphone back up to his mouth.

"Now, before we go make your ID cards, I have to explain what they are used for and the rules that come with them. Boring, I know. But this is super important information, so, try to listen a little bit. So first of all, these cards are used to make sure you're in your dorm rooms by 11:00 p.m. every night on Monday through Thursdays and 1:00 a.m. on Friday through Sundays. The dorm room building has a sensor that detects your IDs when you walk into the entrance doors. So each night, the system will record if you are or aren't inside. And I know most of you will be doing sports and/or clubs that will require you to get up early for morning activities. You will be allowed to leave your dorms as early as 4:30 a.m. But between the times of 11:00 p.m. or 1:00 a.m. and 4:30 a.m., you must stay in your dorm rooms unless there is an emergency or you got permission.

"Now, some of you may think you're sneaky and try to leave the card in your room so you can go sneak out somewhere. Lucky for you, we have dorm room managers that rotate shifts and monitor every entrance 24/7. And if you somehow manage to sneak by them, there is a sensor on the doors that will go off when they sense motion during curfew hours. Sorry everyone, but sneaking out is a big no no here. Also, don't ask me any questions about how the technology in the cards work. Please. I'm an English teacher."

The room was filled with laughter from the students and other faculty members.

Sam leaned in towards Jack and Oliver.

"I love this dude. I want him as my teacher!" she whispered

"Me too! He's awesome!" Oliver whispered back.

Mr. Bennett continued when the laughter subsided.

"Now because of this, you're going to want to store your IDs in a way that's easy for you to carry around. The IDs have a hole in the top, so you can put some kind of chain on if you want to hang them on a keychain or lanyard. They are made out of a special type of material that won’t rip so you don’t have to worry about them falling off.

"Another feature to the doors will recognize if someone is carrying two cards at once. Only one card per person is allowed. Don’t try to be a bro and sneak checking in your friend for them. We will know. Again guys, English teacher. Don’t ask. It just works.

“Anyway, I know we can’t necessarily prevent this, but if you guys are going to start sleeping over in each other’s rooms, at least be courteous to their roommates if they have one.”

Somebody in the audience yelled, “Woo!” causing the students to laugh.

Mr. Bennett smiled, though it wasn’t out of kindness and was more of a threat as he sang, “No~” into the microphone before continuing his speech.

"Now, to sum this all up, you'll want to keep your ID with you _at all times_. I'm dead serious. You cannot miss your curfew of 11:00 p.m. or 1:00 a.m. or leave earlier than 4:30 a.m. for more than five times or you will get kicked out of this school. If you aren't in your room within the curfew timeframes, that will count as a strike; no exceptions. No one has gotten five strikes yet because they are smart about their timing or they made sure to call the dorm managers ahead of time, and I expect you all to do the same. 

"If you forget about the rules or tooootally zoned out during this presentation, you can ask your friends who remember or talk to the dorm managers. If you are confused about the ‘strike’ system here, it will be explained more in detail in later presentations, so no worries there. Also, if you lose the ID card or it gets stolen, you can always buy another for sixty dollars at the Student Store located in the center of the Main Building."

"Sixty dollars?!" shouted Sam.

The library was completely silent for a few seconds until it was filled with chairs squeaking and bodies shuffling as the students turned to look over at Sam. Her face instantly went red from all the attention that was placed on her. Sam could feel Oliver’s shoulder trembling against her own. She glanced over to see if he was okay, but his dimple happily sunk into his cheek, giving away the expression on his face. Sam swiftly shoved Oliver off the cushion and he hit the ground with a soft thud, their interactions causing everyone else to laugh even harder.

Mr. Bennett chuckled into the microphone, the soft sound echoing with a deep vibration through the large room.

"Yes, sixty dollars. I know that's a lot, but it's because the cards have advanced technology in them. So _don't_ lose them," he said, a playful smirk lined his lips while looking over to Sam.

The shade of red on Sam's face flushed a little deeper after having her comment repeated in front of the whole 1st-year class. Oliver snickered as he crawled back into the spot next to her and nudged her with his shoulder, causing her to bury her face in her hands.

"Now, let's begin making these cards. We're going to have the students use the computers in alphabetical order after I explain how to make them. All you really have to do is enter your name and a few other questions into the program we have set up. Once you do that, click 'Done' at the bottom and then you will need to take a picture. Click the ‘Take Picture’ button and it will countdown from 3 and snap a photo of you. After that, the program will process the information and print out your card from the machines attached to the side there. Pretty simple stuff. When you get your cards, the sensors in the dorm building will start responding. A quick, high pitched beep will go off if you have your card like you are supposed to, but a series of loud, lower-pitched beeps will go off if you have two or try to leave the dorms without them during curfew hours.

"Once you get your ID card, you are free to leave. And it seems like we covered everything so let's get this going now! We've got fifty computers ready for the students, so can I have all the students whose last names start with A please come up."

The library started getting rowdy again as the students stood up and shuffled around. Sam, Jack, and Oliver conversed until Mr. Bennett called the last names starting with N.

"That's me. I'll be right back," said Jack.

"'Kay," said Sam and Oliver.

A few minutes later, Jack returned with the card in his hand.

"Oooo, show me!" exclaimed Sam.

He handed her the card and sat down.

"I can't believe this small thing is so important here," she said while observing it. It was made of thick, silver metal that was as light as paper. The picture was on the right-hand side of the card while student information including their name, gender, birth date, and ID number was displayed on the left. The back had a couple of emergency phone numbers in small font while a long black strip for scanning ran horizontally across the surface.

"It's just the school's way of running a secure program to keep the students safe," said Jack.

"It's smart though, since it forces us to pay attention and gives us more responsibility," added Oliver.

The trio waited a little longer until the last names starting with S were called up.

"Yes! Our turn finally," said Sam bouncing up from the cushion.

"We will be right back, Jack. Then we can leave after," said Oliver, “Sam help.”

Oliver stretched out an arm to her.

“Wow, laaaaazy,” she teased while grabbing onto his hand.

Sam pulled Oliver up from their spot and they walked over to an empty computer together. Sam typed in her information first and Oliver typed in his after. Once they both had their cards, they went back to get Jack and left the library. 

The trio decided they would go eat dinner in the gigantic cafeteria. Even though they had seen it a few hours earlier, they still couldn’t help but gawk at how spacious and unique the room was. Sam, Jack, and Oliver made their way over to the counter to see what foods they have to offer. Sam ended up getting a lasagna meal at the Pasta Bar, Jack got a vegetarian avocado goddess bowl from the Meatless Melodies station, and Oliver got a BLAT with cheddar at the Bread and More station. They sat down at an empty table and stared at their fresh food in awe.

“It’s so pretty I don’t want to eat it,” said Sam, wafting the tomatoey steam towards her face.

“I know right,” agreed Oliver, gulping at the sight of slightly caramelized cheese peeking out from his sandwich.

Jack picked up his fork and hovered it over his bowl.

“I’m starving, so I’m going to go for it,” he said bravely.

He drove the fork into his food, picking up a little of each ingredient, and then closed his mouth around the bite. Sam and Oliver watched him chew, waiting on the edge of their seat to see what his response was. When Jack swallowed his bite, he rested the fork against the edge of the bowl and leaned back, bliss filling his face.

“Oh my god,” he groaned, “It’s so good.”

Sam and Oliver looked at each other and smiled in excitement. They both shoved a bite of food into their mouths and melted into their seats as the flavors harmoniously mixed together along their pallet. For the remaining time, the three of them barely spoke as they ate; they were too focused on savoring their meal’s flavor. Eventually, they finished their dinner and placed their dirty dishes on the racks that rotated to the back of the kitchen to be cleaned.

They decided to go into town next so they could purchase their duvets before they slept that night. Sam bought one of the cheaper ones with a simple design, Jack ended up finding one that had paw print design on it, and Oliver snagged one of the flashiest, brightest duvets they had in the store.

The trio made their way back to school and when they walked through the entrance door of the dorm building, they each heard a high pitched beep.

"Whoa, it did the thing!" exclaimed Sam.

"Technology these days is awesome," said Oliver. 

All three of them made their way up the stairs and laid out the fresh cover sheets onto their beds. Once they were situated, Sam organized some of her school supplies, Jack read a book, and Oliver messed around with his phone. Time passed and it started getting close to midnight. Sam grabbed a pair of pajamas and went into the bathroom to change and take care of her nightly routine of skincare and dental hygiene. When she came out, she sat down on her bed and started organizing Oliver's clothes.

"Hey, Oliver. I'll wash these when we're allowed to do laundry and give them back to you soon, okay?" she said.

"That's totally fine. No rush," he replied.

Sam tossed Oliver's clothes in the dirty clothes basket by her dresser and hopped into bed.

"I wonder how long those presentations will take tomorrow," said Sam while fluffing her pillow.

Jack looked up at Sam from his book.

"Hopefully not too long. We also get our schedules tomorrow though."

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that! I'm excited to see my classes."

"At least someone is excited for schoolwork," said Oliver with a laugh.

"Well, I kinda have to like schoolwork to keep my scholarship."

"You're a brave soul. I couldn't handle that."

Sam chuckled at his comment and then snuggled down into bed.

"Oh, Sam, want me to turn off the light?" asked Jack.

"No, it's okay! You can keep reading. Sleeping with lights on doesn't bother me at all. You guys can talk if you want too. Don’t mind me."

"Okay, let us know if it's too much."

Sam nodded with a smile and then plopped down onto her pillow. When she shut her eyes, her mind started going over what had happened that day. It was still hard for her to process the fact that she would be living as a boy throughout high school, but she knew it was for the best.

As Sam was drifting into a comfortable sleep, her eyes snapped open and she let out an explosive gasp while springing up in bed.

"Sam, what's wrong?" asked Oliver, somewhat shaken by her outburst.

"I just realized I only have a skirt for the uniform!"

"You should be able to get pants and shorts at the Student Store tomorrow. Just say that you left yours at home and you can buy another. Your scholarship money will cover it," said Jack.

Sam let out a heavy sigh, her tense body relaxing and flopping over limp from relief.

"Oh thank you. Good. Okay, that scared me. Alright, alright, I'm sleeping now."

The boys chuckled and then said goodnight to her. She told them goodnight back and drifted into a deep, heavy sleep.

To be continued…


	6. Who's that?

Sam, Jack, and Oliver woke up the next morning and got ready for the presentations that started at 9:00 a.m. They put on casual, comfortable clothes—Sam had to borrow Oliver's again—and made it to the cafeteria for breakfast before heading to the library.

Sam's stomach growled violently on the way over.

"Ugh. My stomach is screaming at me," she whined.

Oliver let out a small chuckle.

"Our dinner was so good last night, I can't wait to taste what their breakfast is like,” said Oliver, practically drooling.

“Wow~ What a glutton~,” chimed Jack.

“Heh. At least I’m not so picky that the cafeteria staff has to  _ literally  _ create a whole new meal, even at the vegetarian station,” jabbed Oliver.

“Hey!” bleated Jack, playfully shoving Oliver.

Sam smiled as she watched their lighthearted mannerisms. She was extremely grateful that Jack and Oliver were the people by her side at that point in her life. 

The trio strolled into the cafeteria, which was flooded with 1st-year students. Everyone seemed to be making friends; there wasn’t a single person sitting by themselves. They got their food and sat down at an empty table, which coincidentally was the same one they had been at the previous night. The food they ate was fresh and delicious. Sam had a breakfast burrito with a bowl of fruit, Oliver had 2 pieces of avocado toast with salmon and egg on top, and Jack had a vegetarian omelet. They sat for a little longer while they waited for their satisfied, bulging stomachs to settle before putting their dirty dishes away. The trio left the cafeteria and lazily made their way over to the library.

When Sam, Jack, and Oliver walked into the library, they noticed that the setup was different from the previous day; the tables originally placed randomly in the center were moved off to the sides and rows of chairs filled up the space instead. There was only one section of tables in front where the faculty members were sitting for the presentations. A big, electronic screen came out from the ceiling behind them. The trio made their way through the chairs and found three seats to sit in.

The presentations started as soon as the clock struck 9:00. All the students sat attentively, taking in the information they were given. The presentations took around three hours in total, faster than most of the students expected. Before they knew it, they were released from the library with the next task of getting their schedules.

*** * ***

The students were told multiple important things during the presentations:

  * Visitors weren't allowed to enter the school unless they called beforehand. 
  * Students were allowed to leave the school campus when classes ended and on weekends as long as they were back in their rooms by curfew hours. The only exception was if there was an emergency and they contacted the dorm manager's office to warn them they would be late.
  * The town had a variety of places for the students to enjoy. There were places to shop, restaurants, a movie theater, bookstores, and many other places for students to have fun and hang out at. There were also multiple hospitals that students could go to if they were sick or injured and hotels friends and family could stay at if they wanted to visit.
  * There were certain days throughout the year where students were allowed to stay out later than normal. For example, Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve. Sometimes the school would hold events that would extend the curfew as well.
  * Students have a disciplinary system called “strikes.” Multiple things could count as a strike against a student such as missing curfews, unexcused absences, frequent tardiness, etc. Students would be kicked out if they reached five strikes. The strike system would refresh every new school year. So, if a student had four strikes as a 1st-year, the strikes would get wiped out to zero as a 2nd-year.
  * There were two levels of classes at Blue Isle High: normal classes and honors classes. The normal classes were challenging and educating for the students, but the honors classes covered more topics and went more in-depth with each topic.
  * The school had multiple floor levels: The first floor contained the library, music room, auditorium, cafeteria, Student Store, and the teacher lounge. The second floor was filled with club rooms that required special equipment. For example, the Cooking Club has their own room filled with kitchen supplies and appliances. However, some clubs don’t require specific equipment during club activities, so meetings are held in a regular classroom on the third, fourth, or fifth floor. The Student Council’s room was also located on the second floor. The third floor was for the 1st-year level classes, the fourth floor was for the 2nd-year level classes, and the fifth floor was for the 3rd year level classes. There were also two half floors that were filled strictly with study rooms for the students to use whenever they needed.
  * Students didn't have to take a PE class because they were expected to either do a sport, go to the gym, or use the spacious campus and town to work out on their own. The students have to take an annual athletics test to record their abilities on the first day of school each year. It was to keep track of where the student's physical abilities were.
  * The cafeteria was open to the students from 4:45 am to 10:45 p.m. on Monday-Thursday and 4:45 am to 12:45 a.m. on Friday-Sunday. Sometimes the cafeteria would host late-night events, like an all-you-can-eat donut night, which would allow the students to stay out later than usual.
  * Students were allowed to bring food from the cafeteria into their classrooms during lunch or their dorm rooms at night if they had their own to-go containers. They were also allowed to store food in their rooms as long as a mess wasn't made. However, most students ate in the cafeteria because it was more convenient.
  * Students were allowed to use the laundry rooms in the dorm building from 4:45 a.m. to 10:45 p.m. on Monday-Thursday and 4:45 am to 12:45 a.m. on Friday-Sunday. Students had to provide their own detergent, but other than that the service was free.
  * The dorm building also had a mailroom for the students. Each room had a box where letters were stored. For example, Sam, Jack, and Oliver share a mailbox but they each have an individual key. If there was a larger package, it was put in a separate room. The students were given their mailbox key at the same time they got their schedules. The key had a special feature where a light would blink if there was mail for them. 



*** * ***

Sam, Jack, and Oliver walked out of the library and followed the mob of people to the center of the Main Building where they were handing out schedules. Since the lines were in alphabetical order, Sam and Oliver walked over to the S line and Jack went to the N line. When the trio got their schedules and mail keys, they met back up and looked at their classes together.

"Guys, holy shit... I tested into 3rd-year honors chemistry..." said Sam, her eyes wide with astonishment.

“WHAT?!” exclaimed Jack and Oliver at the same time.

“Yeah! Look!”

She flipped her paper around to them and Oliver took it in his hand.

"Dude,  _ HOW _ ?! I get maybe testing into 2nd-year chemistry, but 3RD-YEAR HONORS?!" said Oliver, his tone in as much shock as her’s.

“I… I honestly have  _ NO  _ idea. But, I love chemistry! It’s always been my favorite subject,” replied Sam.

“You must have tested really high on the science exam they made us take before coming here. I heard they mix 1st, 2nd, and 3rd-year questions on the exam,” said Jack.

"Okay, well, please don't die Sam. I, just, yeah. Don’t die," pleaded Oliver, at a loss of words.

"Nah, it'll be fine! I’m actually excited!"

Oliver gawked at Sam with an expression of disgust at her being “excited” towards schoolwork.

"What else are you taking Sam?" asked Jack.

"Let’s see,” she said while walking over to Oliver to peek at her schedule still in his hands, “All the other ones are 1st-year honors classes... Wait! Oh my God! I have Mr. Bennett! YES!"

"What?!" exclaimed Oliver.

"Oh wait! I have him too! Do we have anything else together?" said Jack.

Jack held his schedule up to Sam’s and they compared classes and teachers.

"We have everything together but history and chemistry!" said Sam enthusiastically.

"We probably would've had everything together, but that 3rd-year class is making your schedule a little different," said Jack.

"Hey, at least we have the other four together. Woooo future study party in 320!" she cheered.

"You guys are so lucky. I hate you both," sulked Oliver.

"Why, what are you taking Oliver?" asked Sam.

"Just normal classes. Schoolwork isn't really my thing. I studied my ass off to get into this school, but in the end, I always end up focusing too much on track," replied Oliver.

"Hey, as long as you’re happy with what you are doing, that's all that matters.”

“Yeah, I mean, there isn't really a subject I'm interested in right now either. Maybe I will find it along the way, but for now, I'm just gonna take normal classes and see how it goes."

"There's nothing wrong with that," said Sam with a sweet smile.

Oliver returned the smile with a little chuckle, magnifying his dimple crease.

"Soooo, y'guys wanna go check out our classrooms before lunch?" offered Sam.

The boys agreed and the three of them started to walk towards the staircases behind the mob of students still waiting for their schedules. Before they could make it past the students, a girl's high pitched voice called out, "Jack! Ollie!"

The three of them turned around to see a short girl with long blonde hair running towards them.

Sam scrunched her eyebrows together in curiosity.

_ Who's that? _

To be continued…


	7. Sam is a gir—

The girl came to a stop in front of Sam, Jack, and Oliver. She looked up at them with big, sparkling light brown eyes and smiled brightly. Natural-looking false lashes fluttered playfully while a gentle blood-orange smokey eye with glitter painted her lids. Plump cheeks glowed with a summery blush and her shimmery highlighter sparkled against the light coming in from the windows. She wore a salmon, off-white, and denim-blue striped dress that accented her curvy figure. Strappy off-white platform sandals brought her a few inches taller, but she was still nowhere near being as tall as the trio. Long, platinum blonde hair hung with loose ringlets at her hips. Overall, her appearance showed that she had a lot of fun putting herself together.

_ She's so small _ , thought Sam.

Sam's eyes traveled down the girl's outfit and stopped at her bulging chest.

_ But her boobs fucking aren't! _

She brought her hands up and placed them on top of her chest, glaring at the girl's with secret envy.

"Honey! I can't believe we ran into each other already," said Jack while bending down to give the small blonde a quick hug.

"I know! I was just about to get my schedule, but then I saw you guys!"

The voice that came out of Honey was sweet and bubbly. She had a slight scratchiness that caused her voice to crack when she went up in range. It only added to her cuteness.

"H-Hi Honey. I'm glad you got here okay," stuttered Oliver.

When her eyes locked onto Oliver, he flinched and gulped.

“Ollie!” exclaimed Honey while lunging towards him for a hug.

Oliver froze when her arms were wrapped around his torso, his face full of panic.

Sam noticed Oliver's reaction and smirked to herself.

_ Hmmm, what's this _ ?

"Thanks, Ollie! The trip was really fun and easy!” she said while pulling away, “I'm glad I stopped you guys to say hi really fast. By the way..." she peeked at Sam, "...who's this?"

Sam stepped forward and offered a hand out to Honey.

"I'm Sam Springfield. Jack and Oliver's roommate."

Honey took Sam's hand and shook it, a white set of teeth beamed from her glossed lips.

"I'm Honey Michelle."

_ God, even her name is cute. But okay. Now, uh, should I act manly or flirty or something?  _ thought Sam

Sam looked Honey in the eye and gave her a sweet smile.

Honey averted her gaze away from Sam and blushed.

_ Whoa, whoa, whoa. What was that? _

"Honey is our childhood friend," said Jack while playfully resting his arm on Honey’s head, "All three of us grew up on the same court."

"Oh, that's so cool! I'll definitely see you around school then," said Sam.

Honey laughed as she nudged Jack’s arm off her head and then smiled at Sam with cheeks like two pink balloons.

"Yeah, that'll be nice! Well, I gotta go get my schedule, but I'll see you guys soon! And it was nice meeting you, Sam!"

“You too!” said Sam.

"See you later Honey," added Jack.

Honey waved bye while she jogged away to go meet with some friends that were waiting off to the side.

Once she was gone, Sam, Jack, and Oliver headed upstairs. They explored the spacious, colorful hallways, eventually finding all of their classrooms. The trio felt awkward going up to the 3rd-year floor to check out Sam’s class. The 3rd-year students felt bigger for some reason; they gave off a more mature aura. After they were done with that, they scurried to the cafeteria and scarfed down another delicious meal.

"Oh crap. Guys, I still need to get my uniform,” mentioned Sam after inhaling her food.

"Oh, we can get it after we finish eating," said Jack.

Sam and Oliver agreed, and once they ate their final bites of food, they headed to the Student Store.

"Hi, what can I help you with?" asked the friendly-looking woman behind the counter.

"Hi, um, I left my entire uniform at home, so I was wondering if I could just buy another one here?" replied Sam.

“Of course! What would you like: skirt, shorts, or pants?”

“Could I get shorts and pants, please?”

“Sure thing! And how about cardigan color: khaki or blue?”

“Uuuhh, let’s go with blue.”

“Aaaand, tie or bow?”

“Tie.”

"Alright. What size would you like these in?"

"Um..."

Sam looked back at Jack and Oliver with eyes pleading for help.

"Medium," they mouthed at the same time.

"A medium please," said Sam.

"Alright, I'll be right back."

The woman walked away for a few seconds and came back with a new uniform packed in clear plastic wrap.

"Okay, that will be... $275 please."

"WHAT?!" exclaimed Sam, causing the woman to jump.

"Sam, calm down. You're a scholarship student," reassured Jack, holding back a snicker.

"O-Oh, you are?" the woman asked, slowly collecting herself, "Could I have your ID number?"

"It’s uuuuuuh—” she stalled while pulling out her card to read the number, “—425242.”

The woman typed the number into the computer.

"Perfect! Your scholarship will cover the purchase, so you are free to take the uniform now."

"Oh, awesome! Thank you so much!" said Sam while picking up her uniform from the counter.

"No problem. Have a good day you three."

Sam thanked her one more time and the trio started heading back to the dorms.

“Hey, Sam. Who am I?  _ ‘WHAT _ ?!’” teased Oliver.

“Shut up!” exclaimed Sam with a laugh while she chucked the uniform bag at him.

The flimsy piece of plastic hit Oliver’s shoulder with a crackling sound. Oliver caught the bag before it slipped onto the floor and the three of them shared a happy laugh. 

When they were back in their room, Sam rummaged through the suitcase under her bed that was filled with her “girl clothes” and pulled out her original uniform. It consisted of a pleated navy blue skirt, a white long-sleeve shirt for when it was cold, a white short-sleeve shirt for when it was warm, a khaki cardigan, and a green bow tie. She walked over to their closet and put the uniform on a hanger.

"See you later pretty, girlie uniform," she said in a gloomy tone while hanging it up.

The boys chuckled at her comment.

"Oh yeah," said Oliver, "How come you freaked out so much when that woman told you the cost of the uniform though?"

"I didn't know it would cost that much! I got the other uniform sent to me because of my scholarship, so I never knew the cost. I'm not used to seeing big numbers like that for  _ clothing _ ."

"Blue Isle High is just ‘a little’ excessive with money," added Jack.

"You could say that again," huffed Sam while picking up the new uniform.

“I’m gonna try this on real quick,” she announced to the boys.

“Alright~” they both sang.

She walked into the bathroom and set the clothing on the sink counter. This uniform consisted of khaki pants and shorts, a white long-sleeve shirt for when it was cold, a white short-sleeve shirt for when it was warm, a navy blue cardigan, and a green tie. She came out a few minutes later to look at herself in the full-length mirror.

"So, Oliver..." said Sam.

"Mmm?" he hummed while taking a sip of water.

"You like Honey, don'tcha?"

Oliver flinched and choked on his water. He coughed and wiped the drops escaping down his chin.

"Wh-what're you saying?!" he asked in a frantic tone.

Jack hunched over in his desk chair and trembled with silent laughter.

"Dude, even Sam noticed!" he said between his wheezes.

"It was kinda hard not to," teased Sam with a shrug.

Oliver grabbed his pillows and chucked one at Sam and one at Jack. They laughed as the pillows slammed into their bodies.

"You guys suck! Leave me alone!" shouted Oliver in embarrassment.

"Well, you might have a rival now, Oliver," said Jack.

Sam whipped her head around to see Jack averting his gaze while sticking his tongue out at her.

"Oh my god! You saw that too?!"

"Wait, what?! What are you guys talking about?!" demanded Oliver.

Sam buried her face in her hands.

"Sam! What's going on?!"

"Honey's got the hots for Sam," razzed Jack.

"What?! How?! Sam is a gir—" exclaimed Oliver, abruptly stopping in the middle of his sentence. His eyes widened with realization.

"Oh my god."

Oliver looked over to see Sam peeking at him through her fingers.

"Ah man. Are you serious?" groaned Oliver.

Sam dropped her hands and shrugged.

"Hey, it's not my fault your crush is falling for a ‘pretend boy,’” she said while Jack covered his mouth to hold back another fit of laughter, “Besides, what if Honey  _ IS _ actually bi or pan or  _ something _ ?”

“No, no. Honey is straight. Trust me. I grew up with her. I would know,” defended Oliver.

“Okay~ If you say so~,” sang Sam, “Don’t be mad when she falls head over heels for me.”

Oliver flopped back onto his bed and sulked, letting out a pained groan. Sam walked over to him and gave him a light kick in the leg.

"Dude, I'm just messing with you. Let's get Honey to like you back! You'll help too, right Jack?"

"I'm all for it. If Oliver can grow the balls to go through with it."

"Jeez! I will!" he whined.

Sam and Jack looked at each other and snickered.

"By the way," noted Oliver while pushing himself up into his elbows, "that uniform looks good Sam.”

“Really? Thanks! It fits pretty well actually,” she said while moving her shoulders around.

“We should probably go into town and buy you a few simple outfits for casual wear after school hours. Maybe some workout clothes for practice too."

"I'm probably set on workout clothes for basketball, but casual wear is something I definitely need. I can't keep borrowing your clothes forever. Do you think they have thrift stores in town?"

“They probably do,” chipped in Jack.

“Perfect. That’s where I reside.”

Thinking about buying men’s clothing caused another thought to cross her mind. She turned around and started pacing around the room, chattering to herself.

"Wait, I should probably get a binder for my chest too. I need one that will be easy for me to work out in. One that won’t be dangerous to wear under strenuous activity. Because if I wore a sports bra, the straps could be seen through a light-colored shirt. God, hopefully the employees in the store can help me find something that works… Wait!—”

Her screech at the end caused the boys to jump. Their attention was now on Sam, where they saw her frozen with a hand over her mouth and wide eyes full of worry.

“Ooooh myyyy Gooood!” she groaned, her voice cracking in all sorts of directions, “I'll have to use the boy’s locker room! How am I supposed to change in the boy’s locker room?!"

She walked over to her bed, flopped face-down into her pillow, and let out a muffled whimper.

"Sam, slow down," said Jack with a chuckle, "We'll think up a plan for that this weekend. But first, we need to buy the stuff you need. We've got the rest of the weekend to explore more of the town, so it'll be a perfect time to shop."

She lifted her head and twisted it around to Jack before flopping it back down against the pillow in his direction. 

“Yeah, you’re right. Uuuuuugh. There’s so much to do,” she groaned.

“Hey, we’ll help you in any way we can. Don’t worry. We’ll make it fun,” said Oliver with a cheery smile.

Sam giggled and pushed herself upright.

"Okay! Sounds good to me," she said.

Once the trio decided on their plans for the weekend, they settled down, got dinner, and went to bed. The excitement was slowly rising as the first day of school drew near.

To be continued…


	8. Here we go

The weekend flew by in a flash and Sam's shopping trip was easily taken care of. The trio visited a couple thrift stores around the town and Sam managed to get a large bulk of outfits to rotate through during the school year. They also visited a store that sold cloth binders for compressing her chest. The employees were very helpful with finding Sam the perfect one for her situation. In addition to that, they explored some of the food places and managed to figure out a plan to help Sam conquer the boy's locker room over a delicious lunch. The time they spent not in town, they spent giving Sam a few pointers about masculine mannerisms for her to keep in mind along with some voice training to get her voice to sound a little more convincing as a boy.

*** * ***

Sam and Oliver woke up to their alarms on Monday for their first day of school.

Sam sprung out her bed the second she turned her alarm off.

"Woooo! School starts today!" she cheered.

Oliver chuckled while pulling the covers off himself.

"Someone's worked up," he said.

"Of course I am! I'm so excited!"

Her positive attitude pushed a smile onto his face.

"Ha, now you’re gettin’ me all hyped!"

He stood up and walked over to Jack's bed.

"Jack, time to get up~" he sang while shaking Jack's shoulder.

"Nnngh... School... already?" groaned Jack, eyes half-open.

"Yup. Better get used to waking up early again."

"Ugh..."

Jack rolled onto his back, stretched his arms over his head, yawned, and turned back onto his stomach, squishing his face into his pillow.

"Jack~" pressured Oliver.

"Okaaay. I'm up, I'm up," he said, groggily dragging his body upright under the covers, causing them to turn into a cloth mountain.

"Not a morning person?" asked Sam.

"Not at all," replied Jack within his yawn.

Sam chuckled and made her way over to the bathroom so she could change into her uniform.

The first thing she did was slip on the binder and adjust it around her chest. It was thin, so it wouldn't bulk under her clothing, but it was tight enough to compress her chest and stay in place when she moved around. Next, she put on a pair of briefs with packing (that she had also gotten while buying her binder) so she could safely take off her pants in the boy's locker. She didn’t particularly like the bulky feeling, but she knew she had to put up with it to pass. 

A few minutes later, Sam was fully clothed in her crisp, once-worn uniform. When she walked out, she saw Jack and Oliver tweaking some finishing touches on their uniforms.

"You guys look sharp," complimented Sam while putting her pajamas back in her dresser. Seeing them in more formal outfits was different, but definitely not hard on the eyes.

Oliver struck a boisterous pose.

"Think I can win Honey over like this?" he said boastfully.

"Not if you do that," chaffed Sam.

"That'll make her run away," added Jack.

Oliver glared at Sam and Jack, causing them to turn away and tremble with silent laughter.

"You two can leave. I don't need your 'tudes," sulked Oliver, shooing them away with his hand.

Jack and Sam looked at each other and grinned; the unspoken “teasing Oliver about Honey” alliance was their new entertainment.

Sam walked over to her desk and packed her school supplies into her backpack. She put it on, hopped over to the full-length mirror, and started fixing the wrinkles in her uniform.

She stared at herself for a while, eventually letting out a big sigh.

"Guys..."

The boys turned their heads to look at her.

"This is gonna work right? I felt really confident earlier, but now I'm starting to get nervous that I.... will get caught or something."

Oliver walked over to Sam and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Sam, it's going to be fine, okay? Seriously. Trust us. We got your back," he said.

Sam looked at Oliver through the mirror and smiled.

"Thanks... that makes me feel better."

"Alright!" exclaimed Oliver, moving his arm around Sam's neck and pulling her towards the door, "Let's go get breakfast!"

"Let's go!" chimed Sam.

Jack chuckled and threw on his bag while following the other two out.

_ They're so close already,  _ he thought.

While walking down the stairs, the trio saw many students wandering the dorm floors, chatting with their friends, and getting ready to leave for school. It was easy to see and feel the anticipation in the atmosphere.

Sam, Jack, and Oliver made their way over to the cafeteria to get breakfast before eventually heading to their classes. Sam and Jack walked into their classroom and waved bye to Oliver, whose 1st period class was just across the hall.

When Sam and Jack got into the classroom, they saw around three-fourths of the class already sitting and intermingling with each other. They checked out the electronic whiteboard screen and saw a seating chart by alphabetical last names.

"Welp, I'm over in this row. We can just meet up again before we change classes," said Sam.

"Sounds good," agreed Jack.

As soon as Sam sat down, the school day seemed to fly by. All of her classes had been amazing. The teachers were great and the students were nice. She could tell the education the school offered was a perfect fit for her. 

The cafeteria was bustling with people at lunch, but it was extremely easy and quick to get food. Sam, Jack, and Oliver met for lunch and discussed how their classes were going. When it ended, they all went back to class, and before they knew it, it was already 6th period.

Sam walked into her last classroom of the day and sat in her assigned seat, which was once again alphabetical order. She noticed that the girl sitting in front of her had been in two of her other classes.

Sam reached forward and tapped the girl on the shoulder. She turned around and looked at Sam with bright, honey-colored eyes. Medium length, straight brown hair spilled over her shoulders with side bangs swooped to the right and tucked behind her ear. Her slightly tanned skin was patterned with a few sporadic freckles. Dark, long eyelashes were complimented with sharp, winged liner and a shimmery light brown eyeshadow. Her lips were full and the thin layer of gloss glistened in the light.

"Hi. Sorry, this is super random, but I'm pretty sure this is our third class together and you've sat in front of me for every one of them," said Sam wearing a friendly smile.

"Oh wait! I remember you! You're... Sam right?" she replied in a warm, fruity voice.

"Yeah! Sam Springfield."

Sam offered a hand out to her.

The girl smiled and shook it.

"I'm Opal Sorabella. It's so nice to know that there's someone taking a majority of my honor classes with me. We can suffer together."

Sam laughed.

"We'll survive somehow."

Opal giggled along with Sam and they continued chatting until class began. When class ended, Sam introduced Opal to Jack. They talked for a little bit, but then Sam and Jack said bye to Opal so they could meet with Oliver to go get ready for the annual athletics test.

Once the trio was together, they headed down the stairs and made their way to the locker rooms. 

“How were your last three classes, Oliver?” asked Sam.

“They were good! Psychology seems like it’s gonna be interesting. How ‘bout you guys?” he asked.

“Mine were good. It was weird not having Sam in 4th and 5th period though,” said Jack, glancing at Sam with a chuckle.

“I know right!” she giggled back.

“Hey, how did people react when you walked into chemistry?” asked Oliver.

“Oh god. It was so awkward at first ‘cause when I walked in  _ everyone _ stared at me. I sat down and then the teacher goes, ‘Are you sure you are in the right classroom?’ and I was like, ‘I mean… I’m pretty sure? My name is up there... Sam Springfield.’ And then he turned around and read the board and looked back at me and was like, ‘Ho-ly shit. Alright then.’ I’ve never had a teacher that’s sworn like that on the first day. We were all shocked. But it was still pretty funny.”

Jack and Oliver laughed at her story.

“But, people are treating you okay in that class, I hope?” said Oliver in a concerned tone.

“Oh yeah! Once we got over that weird, entrance moment, everyone was super cool.”

“That’s good to hear,” said Oliver with a relieved smile.

Eventually, the trio got to the locker room entrance ways. There was one for girls, boys, and gender non-conforming students. Jack and Oliver continued migrating with the flock of students heading to the boy’s locker room, but stopped when they realized Sam wasn't next to them.

They saw her staring at the "Men's Locker Room" sign above the door. She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath.

"Here we go."

To be continued...


	9. It was... beautiful

Jack and Oliver walked back to Sam.

"Hey, you’ll be fine. Just remember the plan we made up. It's a perfect time to try it because we don't have assigned lockers yet. We can stand by and help you if you need it," reassured Jack.

"Okay. Phew, okay. I can do this. Let's go," said Sam, charging ahead. She hoped faking her courage would trick her mind into believing that she was way less nervous than she actually was.

As the trio walked into the locker room, a whiff of foreign air blew across Sam's nose.

"Whoooa," she said.

"What's wrong?" asked Oliver.

"The boy's locker room smells so different compared to the girls. It's like, actually pretty normal. And kinda cologney. The girl's locker room always reeks of perfume and deodorant," she whispered so only Jack and Oliver could hear.

"That doesn't sound that bad," replied Oliver.

"Oh no, it is! It's like a hazard zone in there with all the chemicals. The girl's locker room is probably the reason our pollution got so bad."

Jack and Oliver laughed at Sam's comment as they continued making their way inside.

The locker room was huge. There were rooms along the walls that were split into sections designated to each sport. However, the doors to those were closed off for the time being because they didn’t want students to use them if they weren’t on that sports team. There were easily enough rows of benches and lockers in the middle of the room for everyone to find a spot. The trio found an open area on the benches and set their stuff down to change. The students were allowed to wear whatever athletic wear they wanted as long as it was appropriate.

Jack and Oliver started unbuttoning their cardigans and shirts. Sam did the same, revealing the T-shirt she was wearing underneath her uniform. Oliver slid off his cardigan and then looked at Sam.

"Remember, just put on your workout shirt over that and you will be good. And then you can stay in this outfit after the tests and you’ll be good to go! Crisis avoided!" instructed Oliver in a hushed tone.

"Alright. I got this."

Sam pulled on her other T-shirt over the undershirt and then took off her pants, now revealing her briefs. Once she pulled on her basketball shorts, she finally had a chance to relax, but soon tensed up again once she looked up at the people around her.

Sam had been so focused on changing that she didn't process what was actually going on around her. She instantly felt her face get hot from embarrassment because everyone around her was either shirtless, wearing no pants, or both. She shoved on her workout shoes and turned to Jack and Oliver, who were now both shirtless.

Sam forced herself to keep her eyes from traveling lower than their necks.

"Guys, I, uh, I'm gonna wait outside for you. This is, kinda, too much for me. Too many naked men."

Jack and Oliver laughed at her awkwardness and agreed to meet her outside.

Sam frantically fumbled her uniform while jamming it in her bag and scurried away. She did her best to carefully avoid the half-naked boys and escape the row of lockers she was in. When she was almost out, Sam felt an aggressive nudge against her body which shoved her into the lockers.

_ Ow...  _ thought Sam, shoulder stinging from the impact.

Suddenly, she felt a hand grasp her shoulder.

"Are you alright man?! I'm so sorry about that!" exclaimed the boy who bumped Sam.

Sam looked over at him and instantly felt her face burn from embarrassment again. The boy only had his underwear on and was standing unexpectedly close to Sam due to the lack of space.

"I-I-It's, okay!" she stuttered while backing away, "That was my faul—", and was cut off by bumping into the bare back of another boy.

_ AHHHHHHHH!!!  _ screamed Sam's conscience.

"S-So-Sorry!" she exclaimed, finally managing to slip out of the row and race to the doors.

Jack and Oliver hunched over the bench, gasping in laughter after watching Sam's struggle. The boys around them stared, confused about what was so funny.

A few minutes later, Jack and Oliver came out of the locker room and met Sam who was waiting nearby.

"Have fun in there?" teased Oliver.

"Fuck off," moped Sam.

Oliver snickered, wrapped his arm around Sam's neck, and dragged her towards the gym. She purposely made her body limp while she sulked, causing Oliver to guffaw and drag her the remainder distance. 

Once they made it inside the gym, they sighed in awe. The basketball gym and volleyball gym were separated by a thick sliding wall that had been temporarily opened up in order to fit all the students and exercise contraptions.

The teachers running the athletics test gathered everyone together and explained how it would be working: Students could start on any exercise they wanted and would rotate around the gym until all were completed. The person in charge of each station would take the student's ID card, swipe it, and have their results recorded into the system. After the results were reviewed, if it showed that a student missed an exercise, they would get called back to complete it in the weight room later that week.

Once they were instructed to begin, Sam, Jack, and Oliver made their way around the exercises. There were flexibility tests, strength tests, height and weight measurements, etc. When they made it to the vertical jump test, Jack and Oliver started getting worked up.

"Winner gets a free meal next time we're in town?" challenged Jack, staring at Oliver with competitive eyes.

"Oooh yeah. Let's do it."

"What're you guys talkin’ about?" asked Sam, confused.

Oliver propped his elbow on top of Jack's shoulder.

"We always compete with each other whenever something is ‘track’ related."

Sam chuckled.

"You guys are so cute with your little bets~" she teased

Jack and Oliver looked at each other and snickered.

And before long, it was their turn to jump.

The machine they were using had a simple set up: it was a long pole that had horizontal green, blue, and white plastic tiles on the top. Students were supposed to swat them at their max jumping height in order to record how high the jump was. The height was measured from the bottom of the untouched tiles.

Sam went first.

She walked up to the line, took a few steps forward, jumped as high as she could, and whacked the plastic tiles. She recorded her results and jogged back to Jack and Oliver.

"Yo, you can jump pretty high Sam," complimented Oliver.

"Thanks," she replied with a small laugh, "Ironically though, I don't do a lot of jumping when I play basketball. I'm more of a 'speed' person I guess."

Jack stepped forward next.

He walked up to the line and rotated his ankles around a few times.

Sam started hearing voices around them getting louder and more excited. She peeked at the people behind her to see what was going on and noticed a bunch of students admiring Jack with big, giddy smiles on their faces.

"Pfft--"

"What's up?" asked Oliver.

"Jack has a little fanclub already."

Oliver glanced behind and let out a sigh.

"I'm not surprised. This happened in middle school too. His fans called him 'Track Prince’."

Sam hunched over and let out a big, “HA!”

"I can't believe they actually gave him a nickname like that! That sounds like something out of a movie."

Jack walked back to them after he finished, spinning the chain on his ID card around his finger.

"Beat that," he boasted.

Oliver stretched his arms over his head, held them for a few seconds, and then released.

"Alright. Let's do this"

Sam and Jack watched Oliver confidently stroll up to the starting line. Before he jumped, he called out to the person in charge of the vertical jump, "Excuse me! Can you raise the pole up another foot please!"

"Hey! Don't get cocky!" yelled Jack.

Oliver looked back at him and winked.

"That fucker..." muttered Jack.

Sam carefully watched Oliver, excited to see how he was going to perform.

Oliver took in a few deep breaths and then sprung forward. He took two big steps, crouched down, and exploded up like a rocket.

While he floated upwards, Sam felt her whole body freeze; she suddenly felt strangely captivated by him. His presence was the only thing she could focus on. While he was in the air, it was as if time had switched to slow motion. His form was so graceful and awe-inspiring, Sam forgot to breathe.

When Oliver reached the peak of his jump, he smacked the tiles—the loud noise reminding Sam to breathe again—and landed on the ground with a soft thud.

He had his results recorded and then cruised back over to Sam and Jack with a smirk that accentuated his dimple.

"I look forward to my free meal," claimed Oliver.

Jack's eyebrows scrunched together in irritation. He lunged forward, grabbed Oliver's shoulders, and shook him back and forth.

"Dude! What the hell! When did you improve that much without me?!" exclaimed Jack.

"I did a little extra weight training while you studied for student council during the summer," said Oliver, giggling at Jack's franticness.

"A little?!"

While Jack was quarreling with Oliver, Sam stood still, unable to take her eyes off Oliver; she was still in shock from watching him jump. The countless hours he must have put into sculpting his strong legs to be able to jump that flawlessly blew her mind.

Oliver looked over at Sam and caught her staring. He waved his hand back and forth in an attempt to get her attention.

"Earth to Saaaam~ Was my jump really that amazing?" joked Oliver.

"It was... beautiful..."

To be continued...


	10. Can I help you?

Jack and Oliver blinked a few times, not knowing how to respond to frozen Sam.

After a few more seconds, Sam gasped, snapping out of her trance after processing what she had said.

"Uh! That... um, okay that probably sounded weird. I just meant that your jump was really,  _ really  _ good!" fumbled Sam.

Oliver laughed at her awkward correction.

"I've never had my jump get called 'beautiful' before, so I was kinda surprised. But thank you,” he said, cheeks lightly flushed from his bashfulness. 

Sam met his honest eyes and let out a huff of relief.

“Welcome,” she said with a smile.

The students finished up their remaining exercises and gathered together once again so the teachers could make an announcement.

"All of you are free to leave unless you're 1st-years here for the basketball or volleyball team meetings. Swimming, water polo, and diving meetings are those stairs over there to the pool."

Sam felt her heart thump in excitement.

_ It's starting! _ she thought.

"Sam, we gotta go to the track meeting so we'll meet you in the cafeteria for dinner later," said Oliver.

“Okay! I'll see you guys later."

Sam waved bye to Jack and Oliver while they dispersed from the gym with the other students. She looked around the gym and saw a group of boys, girls, and those whose gender didn’t fall into either category chatting while walking towards the volleyball side.

_ Must be nice having all THREE teams,  _ thought Sam bitterly.

She walked towards the basketball side of the gym and saw five boys already sitting on the lower level bleachers. As she got closer, she could tell that they were all taller than she was.

Sam climbed up onto the bleachers and sat down, anxiously waiting for the meeting to begin. While twiddling her fingers around in an attempt to compose her excitement, she felt the sting of someone's eyes on her and glanced over to see who it was.

Sam locked eyes with a boy a few feet away with short, spiky black hair who had been studying Sam with dark, forest green eyes.

"Can I help you?" asked Sam.

"Sorry, sorry. It's just, okay, don't take this the wrong way, but I couldn't help and notice that you're... on the short side to be playing basketball on this team."

"Hey, don't underestimate me," said Sam with a smirk.

"Someone's confident," he said with a small chuckle, "My name is Ricky by the way. Ricky Smith."

He offered a hand out to Sam and she shook it.

"I'm Sam Springfield."

"Y'know, now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure we have 1st period together. You sit behind that pretty girl... Opal I think."

"Wait! Yeah I remember you now! Aren't you glad we got Bennett?"

"Are you kidding? I almost started crying when I found out I got him. He's so cool! Remember the ID card presentation?"

Sam and Ricky continued to talk while they waited for the people in charge of the meeting to show up. Eventually, a few teachers walked into the gym and quieted everyone down.

The meeting was short and sweet. One of the teachers explained how the tryouts were going to work and that they would have to prepare for grueling training sessions. After that, the teachers told the 1st-years that they were allowed to use the basketballs if they wanted and dismissed them for the day.

"Wanna shoot for a little bit?" asked Ricky.

"Hell yeah! Let's go!" exclaimed Sam.

When they stood up, Sam noticed that Ricky was around 6'4" with a lanky, but muscular build. They hopped down the bleachers and Sam glanced over at the other four male 1st-years who were still lingering around.

_ Might as well break the ice _ , she thought.

“Hey, you guys want to play Knockout?” she asked.

“Uh, YES!” exclaimed the hyper 1st-year with bronze skin and straight black hair with shaved sides. He rushed over to Sam with a big smile on his face, “I’m Charlie by the way!”

“I’m Sam! Nice to meet you!” 

She glanced at the other three behind him.

“How ‘bout you guys?”

They exchanged glances as if to see what the other person would do.

“Sure, I’m down. I’m Derek,” said the boy with an undercut and wavy brown hair.

“Yeah, sounds fun. I’m Aaron,” agreed the Asian boy with glasses.

“I’m Zane. I’ll play too,” added the boy with a freckled babyface.

The three of them walked over to Sam, Charlie, and Ricky and they mingled for a little bit longer before Charlie ran to the ball bin and tossed out a couple balls for everyone. Like every first encounter, there was still a bit of lingering awkwardness in the air, but the second they began playing the game, that immediately melted away. The six of them were all smiles while they engaged in the lighthearted competitiveness. They bickered and threw taunts back and forth to get each other worked up. 

There was even a point where Charlie accidentally slammed into Sam while running after the ball, making both of them fly onto the ground. As they were lying there in pain, Sam extended her leg out and kicked the ball out of Charlie’s hands, causing him to have to run after it while she got up and sank a basket to get him out. Charlie chased Sam around the gym and threw a whining fit, which made the other four laugh at their ridiculous display.

As they played, Sam made a little note in her head that Ricky was exceptionally good at shooting. Each shot he made swooshed right into the basket, and he ended up winning the game. When the six of them finished up shooting, they put the balls away and headed back to the locker rooms to grab their things. They walked out a few minutes later and chatted for a bit before Derek, Zane, Aaron, and Charlie said bye to go take care of their own errands.

As Sam and Ricky made their way out of the locker room hallways, Sam lightly nudged Ricky’s arm.

"We've gotta make a good impression this week. I think we would make a great duo,” she said.

"Dude, I was just thinking that. We could just, come out of nowhere and destroy everyone as this famous 1st-year duo," said Ricky.

"The shitty thing is that we have to make it through this week of tryout hell. Though, I kinda hope we have to play a game against the upperclassmen as a part of it."

"Whoooa, Sam, calm down. That's a little scary."

"What! It seems fun!"

"You're crazy," said Ricky with an awkward laugh.

When they made it out into the main hallway, Sam turned her body in the direction of the cafeteria.

"Wanna go grab dinner, Ricky?" she asked.

"Ah, I can't today. I gotta go run into town right now and buy a few things for school. Let's eat together tomorrow though!"

"Sure! Oh, can I get your number too?"

They exchanged numbers and then Sam waved bye to Ricky while he walked away. Sam entered the cafeteria and found Oliver sitting with a plate that was almost empty.

She jogged over to him and plopped her things down.

"Aye! You're late! I was getting lonely!" scolded Oliver in a joking tone.

"Sorry! I met this really cool 1st-year during the meeting and then we played Knockout with the other 1st-years for a little. I kinda lost track of time. By the way, where's Jack?"

"He's at the Student Council meeting now. He should be done soon though."

Sam hurried to get her food so she could join Oliver. She sat down and drove her fork deep into her food.

"So, how was your meeting?" asked Sam before gobbling up her first bite.

"It was good! All they really talked about was what tryouts were going to be like this week."

"Same here. Did they warn you about how intense they were going to be?"

"Yup. They made it clear that we would be dead by Friday's practice."

"God, this is so exciting! I hope all of us survive till the end of the week!"

"We will," said Oliver while holding out a fist to Sam.

Sam smiled and bumped her own fist against his.

Sam and Oliver continued eating when Jack eventually strolled into the cafeteria and set his things down next to Oliver.

"Yo! How was Student Council?" asked Oliver.

Jack glared at Oliver with angry, exhausted eyes.

To be continued...


End file.
